Memetic Sex

I need more memetic sex partners; I’ve found my creativity is multiplied a thousandfold if I have someone consonant I can play mind-tennis with. (As opposed to bouncing ideas off of someone, we bounce them back and forth, with a snowball effect. Not that kind of snowball…but hmm…there’s an idea to toy with later.) Synergism, baby. Of course, it can be done with a lot of people, but not just anyone. The whole idea is brilliantly put forth in a book I ran across a few months back by Ron Hale-Evans, Mind Performance Hacks, Tips & Tools for Overclocking Your Brain.

Hack #26 Enjoy Good, Clean Memetic SexYou can think of conversation as a kind of mental sex that produces ideas rather than physical offspring. To produce good ideas, though, it’s best to follow a few rules of “memetic hygiene.”

The moment I looked at the title, I thought, “This book is for me.” As I read through it, I realized it was written for someone just like me. The hacks are genius; they address problems and questions I’ve had for a long time, just knowing there was a solution somewhere. And voila! A hack for it appears in this book. Not only did this machine-bound stack of papers and I establish an instant rapport, but as I read the Forward of the book, a definite affinity for the author developed. Let me name the ways:

Ron Hale-Evans. I thought, “How cool if he’d hyphenated his wife’s last name.” Well, he did. Or rather, they did. Read all about it here.

On his site, you’ll find the Mentat Wiki. And a parody of the Mentat Mantra. I loved Dune. And Duncan Idaho rocks.

One of his shelved projects is The Voice of the Tao, a book on synchronicity. Talk about synchronicity…I, a geeky Taoist, stumbled upon his book out of the blue, just browsing around at the library.

I like hacking my mind.

If you’re a geek, or a nerd, go buy this book. If you love your mind and positively quiver with desire over the thought of making it work more efficiently, go buy this book. If you’re a total dork who wants to impress the hot chick at your workplace, go buy this book.